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To the Point: 4/22/08
Urge Your Senators To Restore Protections Against Pay Discrimination
Today, April 22, the average woman’s earnings since January 2007 will finally catch up with men’s average 2007 earnings, according to the National Women’s Law Center. To seek an end to such pay discrimination, urge your senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.
Tomorrow the Senate is scheduled to consider the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a bill intended to clarify that in pay discrimination cases each paycheck is considered a new instance of discrimination. This would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which set a 180 day time limit from the victim’s first discriminatory paycheck for bringing wage discrimination cases, thus enabling victims of pay discrimination to seek justice.
The U.S. House of representatives has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007, a companion bill.
Please call your Senators today or tomorrow. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators’ offices. Tell the persons who respond your name, that you are a constituent, and that you urge the senators to vote "YES!" on the Fair Pay Restoration Act.
If you would like more information or want to send an e-mail message to your senators, go to http://rac.org . Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Restore Protections Against Pay Discrimination.”
To the Point: 4/2/08
Contents: April 2, 2008
Add Action To Your Seders: Help To Combat Malaria With Nothing But Nets
Add Action To Your Seders: Help To Combat Malaria With Nothing But Nets
With the promise of spring around us, the buzz about women’s seders on the WRJ listservs, and the ample supermarket displays of matzah, macaroons, and gefilte fish, we know it is time to prepare for our Pesach celebrations.
WRJ has a great suggestion for your sisterhood and family seders to enable you to put Pesach’s message of liberation into action – to help to liberate Darfuri refugee families from the scourge of malaria – one family at a time! At our request the Commission on Social Action has prepared “The Plagues of Malaria” which you can include with your reading of the plagues section of the Hagaddah to help put a stop to this contemporary plague.
In Africa, malaria annually leads to death for more than one million people, many of whom are children. Research has shown that the use of insecticide-treated bed nets can lessen malarial transmission as much as 50%.
A donation of $10.00 will go towards the purchase, distribution, and education about the proper use of a family bed net for a Darfuri refugee family that has crossed borders into the Central African Republic and Chad. The Reform Movement is working with The United Nations Foundation, which is a registered public charity and 100% of your donation will go to providing nets to families in Darfur; no portion of your donation will be diverted for administrative costs.
ACTION: SISTERHOOD SEDERS
• Include “The Plagues of Malaria” with your reading of the plagues section of the Hagaddah
• Set up a very visible Nothing But Nets information and contribution table. For more information click on the link below.
Help Women of Reform Judaism combat malaria!
• Ask women to make their checks payable to: Union for Reform Judaism, with Nothing But Nets on the memo line.
Mail Checks to:
Commission on Social Action
Union for Reform Judaism
633 3rd. Ave., 7th Floor
New York, NY 10017
To the Point: 3/17/08
An Exciting New Program Idea From Michele Gusdorff, WRJ Board Representative to the URJ College Committee
Our Young People Are Our Reform Jewish Future
The KESHER College Department, www.keshercollege.org, is committed to helping sisterhood and congregational leaders stay in touch with their college students because our young people are our Reform Jewish future. Women of Reform Judaism can assist in accomplishing this goal by helping to maintain the connection between our college students and our synagogues. This needs to be a priority!
Some students can make the transition to college life easily, while others find that it can be a difficult process. Sisterhoods and congregations can support these transitions by establishing a college committee. This committee would stay in touch with their college students throughout the school year through holiday packages, temple bulletins, letters from the rabbi, emails, or birthday wishes. Many congregations throughout North America have already established college committees, often with strong sisterhood involvement.
To help the URJ College Department achieve the goal of having a college committee in each congregation, we ask all sisterhoods in congregations that do not have college committees to speak to their synagogue leadership about establishing a joint sisterhood/congregation college committee. In some congregations sisterhoods could take on the responsibility for the committee, appointing a chair and committee members. Whatever the scenario you establish, The URJ College Department is ready to assist you with publications, and a web site (http://urj.org/youth/college/). If you have questions, call the URJ Youth Division at 212.650.4070 and ask for the College Department. Your help is invaluable in maintaining this important connection between our college youth and our Reform movement.
A Wonderful Program Idea: Senior Send Off
Hold a senior send-off event. This wonderful way to acknowledge and celebrate a major milestone in the lives of our young people, as they move on to college or to jobs, can be held as a congregational or sisterhood program. Encourage and work with your congregational leaders and clergy to establish senior send off as an annual event. This special program can be the start of keeping in touch with your post-high school youth "Jewishly" over the next few years.
Planning a senior send-off involves:
• Pick a date for holding the send-off during a Friday night, a Saturday morning, or Havdallah service or at another event in the late Spring.
• Publicize it well to the congregation.
• Send invitations to the graduating seniors. Let them know how proud the congregation is of their accomplishments, and that the congregation would like to publicly honor them.
• Work with the clergy to create your rituals for the service or event. Ask the Rabbi to acknowledge each graduate.
With clergy, graduates, parents, sisterhood members, and congregants all partnering together, this can be a very special event. Perhaps your congregation might also want to consider giving a gift or a certificate to the graduates. After the senior send-off ceremony, staying in touch is an important goal for your sisterhood or congregational college committee.
A comprehensive new guide with full recommendations for planning your send-off, Senior Send Off: Celebrating and Transitioning Our High School Seniors, can be downloaded at http://www.urj.org/youth/college/seniorsendoff/. The guide also includes many ideas for staying in touch with your graduating seniors as well as information about getting connected through Kesher on their college campuses. Share this wonderful resource with the clergy, staff, and leaders of the congregation.
With our sisterhoods disseminating this information to congregational leadership and clergy, working on college committees, and getting the word out to our congregants, we can show that we can indeed be "Stronger Together."
To the Point: 3/4/08
Save Funding for Child Care and Head Start
The president's new budget cuts funding for child care and Head Start; under this budget,
200,000 low-income children and their families would lose child-care assistance, and 14,000 children would lose Head Start.
Join with thousands of advocates from all over the country to “March Forth” in support
of increased funding for child care and Head Start.
Please e-mail your members of Congress today to let them know that you,
a constituent, consider child care and Head Start essential programs for children
and families and that you support an increase of $874 million for child care and
$1 billion for Head Start in this year's budget.
To e-mail your members of Congress, go to the National Women's Law Center link: http://action.nwlc.org/marchforthaction or click “Take Action” in the box to the right.
We urge you and your sisterhood members to “March Forth” for child care and Head Start!
The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act
In September, the Senate passed the Mental Health Parity Act (S. 558) by unanimous consent, a similar bill (H.R. 1424) is scheduled for a House vote tomorrow, Wednesday, March 5th. This much needed bill will entirely end insurance discrimination against those with mental health and substance disorders by mandating full parity coverage with physical health benefits.
Call your member of congress today and ask them to vote YES on the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (HR 1424) Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative.
For more information and to send an e-mail in support of this bill, go the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism website now: http://www.capwiz.com/rac/issues/alert/?alertid=10334996.
To the Point: 2/25/08
Let the Spirit of Bill Gates Be Brought to the Pews
The Forward recently published observations by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, on the recent meeting of the World Economic Forum that he attended. His comments are of such significance to our work and to tikkun olam, healing a hurting world, that we urge you to read his inspiring words here.
Seek Legislative Protection Against Pay Discrimination
Women in the United States continue to experience pay discrimination despite steady if slow improvement since the 1960’s: for each dollar earned by men, women still earn only seventy seven cents. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision last spring has forestalled any ongoing progress in bringing about pay equity. This ruling, which set a 180 day time limit from the victim’s first discriminatory paycheck within which wage discrimination cases must be brought, makes it almost impossible to take legal action. Women generally do not learn that their salaries are discriminatory in that time period.
The U.S. House of representatives has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 (H.R.2831), which would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision. The Senate is now considering the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a companion bill. These bills include language clarifying that in pay discrimination cases each paycheck is considered a new instance of discrimination, thus opening the door for victims of pay discrimination to seek justice.
Click on to the National Women’s Law Center, NWLC to access the text of the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a list of the bill’s co-sponsors, and a fact sheet on the issue. Check to see if your senators are among the bill’s co-sponsors.
Take action for passage of the Fair Pay Restoration Act.
The Religious Action Center action alert on the Fair Pay Restoration Act includes background discussion, including the Jewish values on which our position is based, and the opportunity to send an e-mail letter to your senators calling for their support.
Scroll to the bottom of the RAC alert and enter your zip code. If your senators are not on the NWLC co-sponsor list, you can send the letter on the alert as is. If your senators are on the co-sponsor list, change the letter that is provided to thank them for co-sponsoring the Fair Pay Restoration Act and ask them to support the bill when it comes to the Senate floor for a vote.
To the Point: 2/1/08
Program Recommendation: Participate in the Israel at 60 – ARZA at 30 Programs and Events
WRJ has very exciting programming for celebrating and commemorating Israel’s 60th anniversary to tell you about. ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America, has convened a movement-wide committee, of which we are an active part, to celebrate Israel at 60 - ARZA at 30.
Wonderful, new programming materials are being created for a May 9-11 movement-wide Israel at 60 weekend for study, reflection, and of course, celebration. These materials can be used at other times as well and include reflections about our relationship to Israel through film, music, and literature; “Talmud” study about Reform Zionism; early childhood story programs; tefillah and Torah study; family stories and recipes; and a congregational celebration and learning ceremony. The materials will be sent to participating congregations and/or sisterhoods in March. For more information about Israel at 60 go to http://ARZA.org/6030.
Reform congregations and sisterhoods across the country are taking part in this Movement-wide Israel at 60 programming, during which we will:
· REJOICE on the sacred occasion of Israel’s 60th year of independence
· REFLECT on our loving, and at times complex, relationships with Israel
· RENEW our connections to Israel and the greater Jewish People
Check with your temple president or rabbi to find out if your congregation has signed up. If not, urge them to do so, or you can participate as a sisterhood. Go to http://ARZA.org/6030 to sign up.
WRJ devoted the closing plenary session of our 46th assembly to Israel at 60 – ARZA at 30, during which our new statement on Israel was presented. If you would like a hard copy of the WRJ and ARZA handout distributed at our plenary, which includes our statement, contact Carolyn Kunin. The Israel at 60 initiative brochure is attached above.
We urge your sisterhood to participate in Israel at 60 – ARZA at 30 programming.
To the Point: 11/6/07
Celebrate Israel at 60, ARZA at 30, and 50 Years of NFTY in Israel
More than 100 Reform congregations have committed to participating in the Reform Movement’s Israel at 60 initiative. If your congregation or sisterhood have not yet done so, urge them to sign up to join with the Reform Movement to recognize and celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary, ARZA’s 30th anniversary, and the 50th year of NFTY in Israel. If your congregation does not sign up, your sisterhood can do so on its own.
During the Israel at 60 initiative year, we will have a unique opportunity to deepen our connection to Israel. While many of our congregations and sisterhoods have strong Israel programs, this initiative is designed to provide sisterhood and congregational leaders with new resources that relate specifically to Reform life and Reform Jewish practices in Israel. We hope that your sisterhood and congregation will join the rest of the movement in this celebration of Israel's growth and the ongoing maturation of the Reform Movement's relationship to Israel.
Mark your calendars for the Movement-wide weekend, May 9-11, 2008, when congregations and sisterhoods across North America will:
• REJOICE on the sacred occasion of Israel’s 60th year of independence
• REFLECT on our loving, and at times complex, relationships with Israel
• RENEW our connections to Israel and the greater Jewish world
ARZA invites you to visit the Israel at 60 website, www.arza.org/6030. There you will find a list of participating congregations, a calendar of Israel-related events taking place across the Movement, and a participation form to receive the program materials for study, reflection, and celebration. Sign-up for regular updates about the Reform Movement-wide Israel at 60 initiative. Also, look for the promotional poster and a sample of the weekend program materials at the WRJ assembly and URJ biennial in San Diego.
We hope you will contact ARZA (212.650.4280) soon to participate.
To the Point: 10/15/07
Expand Health Care Coverage to Uninsured Children
A bipartisan majority in the House and Senate recently passed a bill that would increase spending for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to provide health coverage to one-third of the more than nine million uninsured children in America. S-CHIP provides health care for the children of the working poor, covering children from families that earn too much to receive Medicaid, but whose employers do not provide insurance, and cannot pay for private insurance. President Bush vetoed this crucial children's health legislation citing "ideological opposition," effectively denying health coverage to millions of uninsured children. The president’s proposals would not even maintain current enrollment levels.
The Senate has the votes needed to override a veto — but there is concern about the House of Representatives which will be voting on Thursday, October 18. Twenty-four additional "yes" votes are needed in the House to overturn the Presidential veto.
Families USA is hosting national call-in days to let legislators know that children's health coverage is a number one priority for American families.
Call your Representative on Tuesday or Wednesday. Call 1-800-828-0498 and ask to speak to your Representative.
Click here to look up the name of your representative and for more information and talking points Urge your representatives to vote to override the President's veto of S-CHIP!
To the Point: 8/31/07
2007 Movement-Wide Symposium On Gender And Jewish Education
We recently alerted you to the pre-assembly seminar on Gender and Jewish Education, which is being held December 10-12, 2007 in San Diego, just prior to the WRJ assembly. This groundbreaking symposium on the impact of gender on learning in religious schools and on Jewish involvement in other formal and informal contexts will enable participants to take part in many important discussions and to strategize for enhanced gender-based teaching. Does it make sense to teach and reach boys and men differently than girls and women? What still needs to be done to bring women’s voices into our Jewish curricula? This symposium is jointly sponsored by the National Association of Temple Educators, the Union for Reform Judaism Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning, The Union for Reform Judaism Youth Division, Women of Reform Judaism, and Men of Reform Judaism.
For more information, including a schedule, workshop descriptions, and suggested readings, go to http://urj.org/educate/symposium. Print copies of the symposium program are available from Carolyn Kunin at 212.650.4066.
Steps for registering and obtaining the reduced fee for those who have registered for the WRJ assembly:
- Register for the WRJ assembly (you must do this first).
- Send an e-mail note to John Penzella, the NATE executive assistant, indicating that you want to register for the symposium, Gender and Jewish Education, at the discounted fee and have completed your WRJ assembly registration.
- John will call to register you for the symposium and will ask you to send a check to NATE for $175.00, the reduced fee for the symposium.
Earthquakes in Peru
On August 15th, an earthquake of 8.0 magnitude struck off the coast of Peru and was followed by many smaller earthquakes, with tragic impact. As of an August 23rd report issued by the Perruvian National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI), 514 people are dead and 1,090 are wounded, nearly 40,000 houses were destroyed and another 6,300 were damaged, and 52 hospitals were destroyed and an additional 43 were damaged.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), www.jdc.org, has informed us that in the week following the earthquakes, the local Jewish community, Comunidad Judia Del Peru came together to provide a coordinated local response to the disaster. Their emergency relief has reached two local communities, so far, and the JDC is also working with the local Peruvian Jewish leadership to investigate potential projects for long-term relief efforts. For more information about the local Jewish and JDC response to the disaster see the attached Situation Report.
To make a contribution to the JDC relief efforts in Peru:
Online:
https://www.jdc.org/donation/jdc_form.cfm
By Phone:
212.687.6200
By Mail:
Check payable to:
Peru Earthquake Relief
P.O. Box 530
132 East 43rd St.
New York, NY, 10017
Ethical Practices in Employing Domestic Workers: Labor Day Resolve
In a 2004 resolution “Worker Justice,” WRJ notes that the “Jewish tradition recognizes the value of work and requires that workers be fairly compensated with adequate wages, benefits, and protection. Our tradition further stipulates that these precepts apply equally to our neighbors and to the stranger within our community. Women of Reform Judaism resolves to seek legislation to require a living wage, health coverage, and other benefits for all workers.”
Domestic workers are indispensable to the North American economies. America's families - including members of Reform congregations - depend on services provided by cleaning personnel, nannies, yard workers, and elder care workers. Yet, there are few laws governing their treatment. Jewish tradition and values can provide an ethical foundation and guidance for dealing with issues that come up regarding the conditions of employment of these workers. Download the newest Commission on Social Action and Religious Action Center issue packet, Ethical Practices in Employing Domestic Workers, at www.rac.org/domesticworkers to find out what you and your sisterhood can do to follow Judaic ethical precepts when employing domestic workers.
To the Point: 7/25/07
Urge Your Representative To Support Medical Marijuana
The House of Representatives will vote later this week, perhaps as early as tomorrow, on an amendment offered by Rep. Maurice Hinchey to the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill, to prohibit the use of federal funds to arrest and prosecute those who use medical marijuana in states that permit its use. Twelve states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) permit marijuana for medical purposes. Medical marijuana has been found to aid in the treatment of glaucoma; alleviate the wasting syndrome associated with the AIDS virus; alleviate nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy; and alleviate the muscle spasms that often accompany multiple sclerosis and chronic pain.
WRJ adopted a resolution in 1999 to urge elected officials to support legislation to enable the medical use of marijuana under medical supervision, for patients with intractable pain and other conditions. Representative Hinchey’s amendment would guarantee that patients given prescriptions by their doctors for the use of marijuana for medical purposes, in states which it is legal, can do so without fear of prosecution by federal authorities.
Take Action Now! Please contact your representatives to urge them to vote for the Hinchey amendment by sending an e-mail to your Representative using the Chai Impact Legislative Action Center.
2007 Movement-Wide Symposium On Gender And Jewish Education
If you are passionate about Jewish education for all ages, you will want to attend the pre-assembly seminar on Gender and Jewish Education, December 10-12, 2007 in San Diego, just preceding the WRJ assembly. Scholars and practitioners will discuss perceived differences in the ways males and females of all ages learn and participate in Reform Jewish educational programs and settings. Does it make sense to teach and reach boys and men differently than girls and women? What still needs to be done to bring women’s voices into our Jewish curricula? This symposium is jointly sponsored by the National Association of Temple Educators, the Union for Reform Judaism Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning, Women of Reform Judaism, and Men of Reform Judaism.
For more information, including a schedule, workshop descriptions, and a list of suggested reading, go to http://urj.org/educate/symposium. A print copy of the symposium program, workshops, and instructions for symposium registration are available from Carolyn Kunin at 212.650.4066.
To The Point: 6/8/07
Divestment Policy To End Genocide In Darfur
The Women of Reform Judaism Board of Directors unanimously adopted a statement on May 20, 2007 calling for targeted divestment from the Sudan to end the genocide in Darfur. Based on the unabated genocidal violence against the people of Darfur, despite years of sanctions by many of the world’s nations, including the United States, grass roots activism, and pressure by the United Nations, increasingly there are calls for targeted divestment from companies that provide funds or arms to the Sudanese government. Cutting off the support of foreign investors seeks to prevent the government of Sudan from continuing to fund the military operations and militia violence in the Darfur region.• WRJ urges sisterhood members to consider divestment, within their own portfolios, from companies that invest in the Sudan.
• Urge sisterhood members to support targeted divestment policies by the federal government, states, cities, universities, and other agencies.
• Call on Canadian sisterhoods to assess the position of their federal government and provinces on divestment and take appropriate action.
Click here to learn how to take action regarding your investments to use the Sudan Divestment Task Force's online screening tool.
A May 18, 2007 article in www.businessweek.com states that presidential candidates John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani have committed to divestment from their personal financial portfolios of investments in firms that operate in Sudan. Both have previously spoken out about the Darfurian genocide, but were not aware that their holdings included companies that do business in Sudan. The article states that Senators Barack Obama and Sam Brownback, also presidential candidates, have indicated that they have divested their investments in Sudan-related companies.
To The Point: 5/14/07
1. Action Needed on Minimum Wage Bill Now
The minimum wage legislation, although passed by both the House and the Senate before February 1, 2007, has been held up because it was part of the Iraq supplemental spending bill which was recently vetoed for unrelated reasons. Millions of minimum wage workers are still making $5.15 an hour. If the minimum wage is passed into law today, May 14, 2007, a full time minimum wage worker would only be making $5.85 an hour on July 14, 2007, $6.55 an hour on July 14, 2008 and finally $7.25 an hour on July 14, 2009.
Let your senators and representatives know that Congress needs to complete the job now by sending a stand-alone minimum wage bill to the President for signing! Minimum wage raise legislation deserves to move forward on its own merits.
Call your representative and senators today or tomorrow toll-free at 1-800-459-1887. You can also send an e-mail by visiting our Chai Impact Legislative Action Center.
2. Urge Your Senators to Ratify the International Women’s Rights Treaty
Contact your senators and urge them to support ratification of the treaty on women's rights. This United Nations treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), has been ratified by 185 countries around the world. The United States, along with Sudan, Somalia, and Iran, has failed to do so.
More than 200 major organizations across the United States are supporting the ratification of CEDAW. Please call on your sisterhood members to urge their senators to support ratification of the Women's Rights Treaty. (Click on the underlined phrase to send an electronic communication to your senators.) Do so today on behalf of women and girls around the world.
3. Call to Change Gender-Based Pay Inequities
The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) Vice President for Education and Employment recently testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions regarding substantial gender-based wage gaps that exist across every educational level—which that cannot be dismissed as the result of women’s choices or qualifications. She presented her testimony just before Equal Pay Day, the approximate day of the year that women’s wages catch up to what was earned by men the previous year. Inform your members of Congress that you support the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Fair Pay Act - bills that would ensure that the promise of equal pay for equal work becomes a reality. For more information and to contact your member of Congress visit NWLC's Website here and scroll down to “Demand Equal Pay for Women.”
To The Point: 4/25/07
Support the Freedom of Choice Act
Just last week, on April 18, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the federal late term abortion ban. This decision prohibits a late-term abortion procedure that physicians and medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, consider necessary in some cases. Moreover the ban also does not include an exception to protect the health and life of the mother, endangering countless women. For more information on the Supreme Court decision read Rabbi Saperstein’s statement.
Call the US Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for the offices of your senators and representatives. Please make three separate calls: one to each of your senators and one to your representative.
- When calling your senators, say, "I'm calling to ask Senator ____ to co-sponsor the Freedom of Choice Act, which is Senate Bill Number S. 1173."
- When calling Representatives, say "I'm calling to ask the Representative ____ to co-sponsor the Freedom of Choice Act, which is House Bill Number HR 1964."
FOCA will protect reproductive options for the American women of the future. To move forward from the devastating Supreme Court decision upholding the late-term abortion procedures ban which may pave the way for overturning Roe v. Wade, we need this protection now.
To The Point: 3/28/07
1. The Union for Reform Judaism Executive Committee Resolution on Iraq
WRJ includes information in To The Point to keep sisterhoods informed about URJ policies on important issues. On March 12, 2007, the executive committee of the Union for Reform Judaism adopted the 2007 Resolution on the War in Iraq. Overwhelmingly passed, the resolution opposes the escalation of troops in the war in Iraq and calls on President Bush to provide a specific timetable for a phased withdrawal of troops.
This resolution builds upon the December 2005 resolution on the War in Iraq, adopted by the general assembly at the Reform Movement’s 2005 biennial convention in Houston, and applies it to current circumstances. For additional information and background, click here, http://rac.org/advocacy/specialresources/iraq/.
2. The Global Days for Darfur Week of Action
The Save Darfur Coalition is working with activists from around the world to plan "Global Days for Darfur" - a week of rallies, marches, vigils, and other events intended to demonstrate that violence is escalating and the people of Darfur are devastated. Immediate deployment of an international peacekeeping force to Darfur is essential. Click here to find an event taking place near you.
To The Point: 3/23/07
1. Urge US Ratification of CEDAW
With International Women's Day celebrated around the world again this month, it is time for the United States government to become part of the international effort to end discrimination and violence against women. The United States is one of very few nations that have failed to ratify the Treaty for the Rights of Women, also known as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Help strengthen the United States' voice in support of global women's rights, ending trafficking in women, educating girls, and reducing violence against women by calling on your senators to actively endorse ratification of the Treaty for the Rights of Women. To act now, visit www.unausa.org/action.
2. Call On Your Senators and Representatives to Co-sponsor the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act
The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act was introduced yesterday,
March 22, 2007, by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA). Contact your senators and representative to urge them to stand for accurate and comprehensive sexuality education and to become an original cosponsor of the REAL Act. This is not a political issue but one of providing the information that young people need in order to make healthy decisions. For more information or to email your senators and representative, go to http://capwiz.com/siecus/home/
To The Point: 3/6/07
1. Health Care For Children
The 1996 welfare law includes inequitable restrictions, because of which many lawful newly-arrived immigrants, including children, have been left uncovered by the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and Medicaid. The proposed Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) would permit states to provide medical coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women, without a waiting period. This year there appears to be the possibility of passing ICHIA as part of congressional reauthorization of SCHIP. ICHIA has had strong bipartisan support and has previously been endorsed by state and local government organizations.
Action: Call for passage of ICHIA this year. The National Immigration Law Center has provided an e-mail link to Congress for your use. This sign-on is for sisterhoods only, not individual members.
2. International Women's Day: Focus on Family Health
The Religious Advocates Working Group has drafted a letter, which will be circulated at its March 8th International Women’s Day Hill briefing on international family planning and the Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act. Yearly, more than 530,000 women around the world die from reasons connected to pregnancy and childbirth! The bill will authorize funding to family planning programs, implemented by the US Agency for International Development, focusing on developing countries with serious family planning and maternal health needs and will strengthen coordination between family planning programs and HIV & AIDS prevention programs. Sisterhoods can take action by signing on to this important letter.
3. International Women's Day Message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
The new Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki moon, has released his comments, attached above, in honor of International Women’s Day. We believe that his priorities will be of interest to you and your sisterhood women. Please share his message.
To The Point: 2/23/07
1. Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Legislation
Last week the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (BCERA), S. 579, was introduced in the Senate. Bipartisan cosponsors include Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Warner (R-VA). Click here to read about the re-introduction of BCERA in the Senate.
A companion bill, H.R. 1157, was also been introduced in the House of Representatives last week. Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Sue Myrick (R-NC) and Lois Capps (D-CA) are the chief sponsors.
The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) is calling for quick passage of these bills because scientific evidence about the relationship between the environment and the development of breast cancer is urgently needed to help understand the causes of breast cancer and develop the strategies needed to prevent and treat it effectively.
The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would launch a federal policy to study the connections between the environment and breast cancer, authorizing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide grants to set up research centers for this purpose.
Action: Call your senators and representatives to urge them to support this bill by signing on as co-sponsors. To reach your members of Congress, click here to go to the NBCC website. It provides a list of all senators and representatives (go to Grassroots Advocacy and then click on Members of Congress) and their contact information.
2. End Genocide in Darfur
According to the Save Darfur Coalition, “the Sudanese government has thumbed its nose at all opportunities to cooperate with international efforts to end the violence.” A new approach to end the genocide in Darfur, Plan B, has been developed, but not yet implemented by the Bush administration. It is important to urge President Bush to implement "Plan B" to prevent to loss of more Darfurian lives. According to the Save Darfur Coalition, more than 400,000 lives have already been lost due to the Sudanese genocide, 2.5 million people have been displaced, and 3.5 million men, women and children are struggling to survive amid violence and starvation.
Click here to urge President Bush to launch “Plan B” to push the Sudan government to cooperate with international efforts to end the genocide.
3. Hold a Provocative Sisterhood Program to Discuss State Mandating of the Human Papilloma Virus Inoculation.
The vaccine Gardisil, which protects girls against several strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer, has recently been mandated for girls entering the sixth grade in Texas. More than 11 states around the country, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia are considering legislation regarding this concern. Approved in June by the Food and Drug Administration, the vaccine has the potential to save thousands of women’s lives. For additional information on the vaccine read the briefing paper by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
Hold an evening panel program on the subject of mandating this vaccine for sixth grade girls in your state. You can invite your rabbi, a gynecologist, educator, or lawyer interested in civil rights as speakers. It could be a very interesting and thought provoking program.
TO THE POINT: 2/5/07
1. Minimum Wage
Last Thursday, February 1, 2007, the United States Senate voted overwhelmingly to increase the federal minimum wage by $2.10 to $7.25 per hour over two years. It also, however, also included tax cuts for small businesses that were not part of the clean minimum wage bill passed by the house in early January. This increase in the minimum wage, the first in almost ten years, represents a small but necessary step to reducing poverty for the working poor, particularly women. Nevertheless differences in the two bills now must be reconciled before sending the minimum wage legislation to President Bush for his signature.
The Women of Reform Judaism Executive Committee adopted a statement on Sunday, January 28, 2007, calling for an increase in the minimum wage without accompanying tax cuts. The full executive committee statement is attached here.
Act now: urge your members of Congress to pass a clean Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 without delay. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support a minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour. The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121. You can also send an e-mail or letter by going to the Religious Action Center webpage: Chai Impact Legislative Action Center .
2. Historic UN Action and Holocaust Commemorations in New York and Geneva
On January 26th the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus condemning Holocaust denial, co-sponsored by more than one hundred countries. The United States drafted, introduced and strongly supported this resolution, which “urges all Member States to unreservedly reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities towards that end.” For a full discussion of this resolution, click here.
- International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York
Observances were held at UN headquarters in New York on January 29th for the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Impassioned speakers included General Assembly President H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, and Madame Simone Veil, President, Fondation Pour la Memoire de la Shoah. In a video-taped message Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General, who was en route to Addis Ababa, described the Holocaust as a “unique and undeniable tragedy.” JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) coverage of the commemoration can be read here.
- International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in the Salle des Assemblées of the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva
- Professor Irwin Cotler, a prominent member of the Montreal Jewish community delivered the keynote address, "Remembering the Holocaust: What Have We Learned? What Must We Do?", at the January 29, 2007 Holocaust commemoration in Geneva. His powerful speech on the Holocaust and the unspeakable genocides that have followed in the Balkans, Rwanda, and in Darfur today presented the following lessons:
- Lesson 1: The importance of Holocaust Remembrance
- Lesson 2: The Danger of State Sanctioned Incitement to Hatred and Genocide – The Responsibility to Prevent
- Lesson 3: The Danger of Silence, The Consequences of Indifference – The Duty to Protect
- Lesson 4: Combating Mass Atrocity and the Culture of Impunity – The Responsibility to Bring War Criminals to Justice
- Lesson 5: The Trahison des Clercs – The Responsibility to Talk Truth to Power
- Lesson 6: Holocaust Remembrance – The Responsibility to Educate
- Lesson 7: The Vulnerability of the Powerless – The Protection of the Vulnerable as the Test of a Just Society
Professor Cotler closed his comments with the compelling call to action: “We will speak and we will act against racism, against hate, against anti-semitism, against mass atrocity, against injustice — and against the crime of crimes whose name we should even shudder to mention — genocide.”- Please click here to read the full text of Professor Irwin Cotler’s important keynote address and use his comments as the basis for a brief discussion at your next sisterhood meeting.
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To The Point: 1/12/07
1. Child Hunger –Take Action
WRJ is committed to working towards ending child hunger. Along with several prior resolutions, the 2006 resolution Ending Global Poverty calls on us to do what we can to end world hunger and poverty. As such, WRJ awarded The United Synagogue Sisterhood, Women of Progressive Judaism, Umbrella Organization of Temple Sisterhoods, Johannesburg and Sandton, South Africa Or Ami Excellent Long-Term Project award for 60 years of school feeding programs, which today provide a daily nutritious meal to over 2,500 children.
Child hunger is a pervasive problem, over 110 million children of school-age from the poor countries of the world live with daily chronic hunger, a tragedy which can and must be addressed. The George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program provides school meals for some of these children. The McGovern-Dole Program has been enormously effective in fighting hunger and promoting education. Studies indicate that school feeding programs increase enrollment and attendance, particularly for girls. Currently, the McGovern-Dole Program will feed only three million children in 2006, so bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress to expand the program to reach more children.
To call on your members of Congress to expand the McGovern-Dole Program, sign the petition here.
2. Hunger In The United States – Sign On To Letter In Support of Strong Nutrition Language In 2007 Farm Bill!
The Food Research and Action Center is circulating a sign on letter calling on lawmakers to renew The Food Stamp Program, which is due for reauthorization this year, and urging that they address current benefit inadequacies and improve access for vulnerable people.
Please sign your sisterhood on to this letter, which calls for the strongest possible nutrition language in the 2007 Farm Bill. The letter is based directly on a joint statement issued recently by the thirteen organizations that comprise the National Anti-Hunger Organizations. Please do so by January 25th.
In order to build momentum for Food Stamp and emergency feeding aid initiatives, a first version of the joint letter will be issued in January, before the President's FY 2008 budget is released. It will be possible to sign on later and efforts will continue to build the list of supporters for each critical juncture in the legislative process, but it is essential to have as many signatures as possible by January 25th.
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TO THE POINT: 12/20/06
Take action for the freedom of the three kidnapped Israeli soldiers: Gilad Shalit was abducted into Gaza and Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were abducted across the Northern border into Lebanon last summer. Their whereabouts remain unknown. “Light a Candle of Hope”, a virtual candle-lighting program was created by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel in partnership with YNETNEWS, to “light the darkness” of Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev. Join now with the 25,000 people around the world who have already participated in this virtual candle-lighting ceremony by clicking on http://or.ynet.co.il.
You and your sisterhood members can also take action by joining an effort to bring international attention to the plight of Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev, as well as to the continuing plight of Ron Arad (captured in 1986), Zachary Baumel, Yehudah Katz, and Tzvi Feldman (all captured in 1982), as well as Guy Hever (missing since 1997), by adding your name to a petition at www.freethesoldiers.org.
Please forward this email to your sisterhood members. With your help, the Chanukah light will shine further, brighter, and stronger and our message will be heard.
2. Needs of Jewish Military Personnel
Cynthia Wolf and Andrea Cannon have done additional research, enabling them to update the original list and to provide e-mail addresses for most of the contacts to whom to send packages for Jewish military personnel. It is advisable to e-mail the contacts before preparing packages to insure that they are still at the address given. You will also find out what is needed by the troops at the time that you are sending your packages. The updated list is here.
3. WRJ Leaders Report on Important Organizational Meetings
WRJ leaders have recently attended important interorganizational and interreligious meetings. Connie Kreshtool, past WRJ president, represented us at a December 5th meeting of the Board of Directors of NCSJ:Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. The agenda included reports on sister city programs, anti-Semitism, and the United States perspective on the region. Her full report is here.
As past WRJ president and co-chair of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism, Judith M. Hertz participated in the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC) Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa last month. During the 18th ILC meeting of the ILC in Buenos Aires, Judith informally mentioned to the chairmen that she was the only woman present and that additional women delegates would enhance the proceedings. The 19th meeting in CapeTown included women as observers during the entire the program. The theme of the 19th ILC meeting was “Dignifying the Divine Image: Jewish and Catholic perspectives on health care” with special reference to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Read Judith’s report, supporting materials, and the joint declaration of the conferees at http://interreligious.rj.org/ILC19thMeeting.htm.
TO THE POINT: 12/15/06
In January of 2006 Women of Reform Judaism adopted the resolution Ending Global Poverty, endorsing the UN Millennium Development Goals, which include: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; improving maternal health; and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. Long experience in international development has revealed the need to link these goals to those ending discrimination against women. It has also been shown that when access to economic opportunity and skills training are available to women, they pull themselves out of poverty and can also avoid or escape many situations that make women vulnerable to abuse and violence.
The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Act. would support global programs providing access to economic opportunity and appropriate skills training for women. Sign the Women’s Edge Coalition petition to Congress asking for support of the GROWTH Act.
2. FYI – CBS to Run Program on the Long-Secret German Archive on the Holocaust
This Sunday, December 17 (7PM ET/PT on CBS) on “60 MINUTES” will run a program about a long-secret German archive that houses a treasure trove of information on millions of victims of the Holocaust. Until recently, the archive was closed to the public. When the German government agreed to open the archives this year, CBS News’ Scott Pelley traveled there with three Jewish survivors who were able to see their own Holocaust records. Additional information is available on the CBS website (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/60minutes/main13502.shtml).
WRJ is informing you about this program, which we have not seen, because of its relevance to the controversy in the wake of the meeting of Holocaust deniers in Iran earlier this week.
TO THE POINT: 12/8/06
1. Military Needs:
WRJ Responds On May 22, 2006, the Women of Reform Judaism Board of Directors adopted the Needs of Men and Women in the United States and Canadian Armed Forces resolution. In addition to important advocacy efforts, the resolution calls on WRJ members to remain alert to the special needs of Jewish military personnel at home and abroad, and to write letters and send packages particularly during Jewish holidays. WRJ board members Cynthia Wolf and Andrea Cannon have compiled a list of contacts through whom letters and packages can be delivered to Jewish servicemen and servicewomen as well as a list of items needed by one of the military hospitals, with an address to which packages can be sent.
2. Good News: Reproductive Rights
On Wednesday the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2006 came to a vote in the House of Representatives and did not pass. Although the vote was 250-162 in favor of the bill, it required two-thirds of the House to pass, because the supporters used an expedited procedure to bring it to a vote during this session of Congress, while anti-Choice legislators have a strong majority. When the new Congress convenes in the new year there will be many more pro-Choice legislators in the House and Senate.
Seeking to deter women from seeking reproductive health care, the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 6099), would have required doctors and other medical professionals to give women coming for abortions ideologically-based arguments and information about fetal pain that is scientifically unproven.
3. Important Report: Teen Pregnancy
Over the past several years WRJ has signed on to, and urged sisterhoods to support comprehensive sexuality education and oppose abstinence until marriage programs, because the latter programs do not work. We anticipate that we will have to come to you again over the next few years for your support on this issue.
A definitive new study reveals that the teen pregnancy rates are down primarily because they are using contraceptives more effectively. The research conducted by Columbia University and Guttmacher Institute investigators, looks at data from the federal National Survey of Family Growth to determine the relative contributions of abstinence and contraceptive use to this decline. The analysis reveals that most of the decline in teen pregnancy was due to more sexually active teens using contraceptives in 2002 than in 1995.
The study casts doubt upon the benefit of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs pregnancy prevention for teens. “The authors recommend that public policies and programs should vigorously promote the provision of medically accurate information on condoms and contraception, and support increased availability and accessibility of contraceptive services and supplies for teens, since these activities have the greatest impact on teen pregnancy declines.” For more information on this issue, go to the Guttmacher Institute fact sheet Teen Pregnancy and Sex Education Q&A.
TO THE POINT: 12/1/06
1. Israeli/ Palestinian Cease-Fire: An Editorial By Rabbi Eric Yoffie
Let Cease-fire Arm Voices of Mideast Moderation, an editorial by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, was reprinted, with permission from the December 1, 2006 issue of the Forward, in today’s 10 Minutes of Torah. Rabbi Yoffie introduced his comments with: “At last, a flicker of hope on the peace front. The cease-fire, we fervently pray, will hold. A flicker of hope, and a welcome opportunity to reenergize American Jews, particularly those of moderate views, and to engage them more intensively in the search for peace.” He described the complexity of American Jewish perceptions and concerns about Israel and offers three steps that we can take at this time.
First, Rabbi Yoffie considers American involvement essential to “create the conditions for negotiations and diplomatic progress,” and recommends calling for American participation in the process. Second, he suggests that we “vigorously oppose extremist voices in the Jewish community, both here and in Israel.” Third, he calls on us to speak up about the principles that are the basis of our relationship with Israel: the right of every Israeli child “to play and sleep in peace”; an end to terrorism; respect for Palestinian aspirations for independence and seeing a ”two-state solution as the only viable answer to the current crisis.” Click on to the Forward for the full editorial by Rabbi Yoffie.
Ask your rabbi to give a sermon discussing Rabbi Yoffie’s editorial or devote part of your next sisterhood meeting to using the ideas presented in the editorial as the subject.
2. World AIDS Day Recommendations for Sisterhood Action
December 1st is World AIDS Day – In much of the world sexual ignorance and local cultural values in conjunction with gender economic and social power imbalances make women particularly vulnerable to gender based violence and HIV-AIDS. Congresswoman Barbara Lee has introduced the “Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act of 2006” with 57 co-sponsors. See the PATHWAY Act Background (DOC 30.72 KB), provided by the Center for Health And Gender Equity, for more information about the act. Urge your sisterhood women to call their members of Congress (Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121), urging that they become cosponsors of the Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Woman and Youth (PATHWAY) Act. Make your calls as soon as you can.
A link to Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism provides suggestions for additional ways you, your family and your sisterhood can observe World AIDS Day; No Day But Today: World AIDS Day-Dec. 1.
